Winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Economics and based at the University of Chicago, Dr. James Heckman’s studies emphasize the importance of developing so-called “soft skills” as well as intellectual development, describe how early learning begets later learning, and herald a 10 percent return on investments in high-quality early care and education. He and his team are now further analyzing the potential return in terms of costs and savings related to health by adults who experienced adverse conditions in their earliest years of life with no intervention to buffer the negative consequences.